Merry Christmas!

The more talk about Christmas and Santa I think Jackson started getting nervous that maybe he didn't make a great impression.  Jackson was very eager to make Santa chocolate chip cookies and even picked out fresh green beans to leave Rudolph.  Nothing says give me another chance like chocolate and fresh veggies. 

After the kids went to bed the elves went to work!

The boys loved it!  What was surprising is that Davis was more excited about it than Jackson was.  Jackson was more into a Zurg toy, that was luckily a last minute find by one of Santa's elves.

Davis doesn't know it yet but he has another present coming his way.  Tomorrow morning when we get in the car to go to Montgomery his car seat is now facing forward!  I figured we're only 2 weeks away from his birthday and that way he can watch movies with Jackson for the trip.  So exciting!  What a great Christmas!

11 months!

Davis is 11 months old today and wow a lot has happened in a month!  I feel like I've missed a whole month at least.  I'm so happy we're in a new house now and trying to get settled in, but I do really miss our old neighbors.

Here are Davis' facts for this month:

1.  According to the baby scale Davis weighs 13 lbs (I think it got broken in the move, don't you?)
2.  He eats constantly!
3.  Davis still takes 2 naps a day, one around 10:30-12 and the other around 2:30-4.
4.  He wears a size 18-24 month.
5.  With this new house he is learning stairs quickly and thinks it's hilarious when he sneaks over to them if the baby gate is open.  He'll just sit at the bottom and wait for someone to see and then laugh really hard and try to crawl up them.

Davis is such a joy and really an easy baby.  We can't wait to see his little personality develop.

Moving Memories

Just a few pictures from our move.

Davis learned out to make the cheese face like Jackson did.

Cleaning leaves one last time.

The small group guys "helping us pack".

Duke was obviously concerned.

First bath in the new tub!

I think everything is going to be ok.

We did it!

It's official, we no longer live in Underwood Hills.  We are now proud owners in the King Valley neighborhood.  It didn't happen easy or over night, but it finally went through.  To make a long story short the day before closing we found out the 1142 lender had put a hold on everything until the "mold" was remediated.  We knew about it and so did the buyers, but had no idea it wouldn't close because of it.  In fact, I found this out right about the time I hit Auburn after I dropped the boys off in Montgomery.  It was Divine intervention that when I stopped in Auburn to get dinner I ran into Caroline who talked me down from the ledge.  That night Drew and the new buyer, Tanner, spent hours under the house taking out all the insulation so that the professionals could come first thing to spray, fax a letter to the bank and hopefully close.  Eventually the closing got pushed back 24 hours, on both hours.  Meanwhile at the new house we had contractors coming the morning of the new closing (supposed to be the morning after closing) to paint, install granite and bring appliances.  Now because of the situation we were forced to make a decision.  Do we call everyone off and waste time without kids or do we go ahead on a house we technically don't own?  We went ahead, risky I know.  Luckily we closed on both houses that day and came to the new house where granite had been installed, painting was being done and appliances had been dropped in the garage (don't ask).  We got it done and Drew and I agreed we both aged about 5 years in 36 hours. 

It's been a whirlwind and at times an emotional roller coaster, even for Jackson.  I had heard it may take a little while for him to feel settled and he's proving them right.  He's been waking up at night and crying every time we leave, even if it's with a grandmother or at Sunday School.  It's been pretty sad.  Even though the boxes are all unpacked I know everything isn't fixed yet and it's a new place with new shadows and new noises.  I've seen a lot of kids around the neighborhood, so I'm hoping Jackson can make some friends to ease the nerves.

10 months

Davis is 10 months old today and moving fast.  Sadly I don't know how much he weighs or how long he is because our house is mostly in boxes.  He is no longer army crawling and he will find me wherever I am in the house.  Here are a few fun things about Davis this month:

1.  Davis is wearing a size 12-18 mth.
2.  He is taking 2 naps a day.  One from 9-10 and one from 2-3:45.
3.  He will eat anything you put in front of him, except strawberries sadly.
4.  Davis has 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.
5.  He is a pretty easy child still.  He really only gets fussy of he's hungry or tired.

Parent Teacher Conference

That's right, apparently we're really that old.  I know it's only preschool, but it seems a little crazy we're already going to these things.  Our first parent - teacher conference was last Friday.  On the way there Drew and I were trying to guess what they would say, we know he doesn't like to share but who does.  The teachers were very prepared telling us that he "plays well with others" and loves to go to the reading corner and the light table.  What was interesting is they are starting to look at how Jackson likes to learn and what he gravitates toward.  They told us that his strongest areas are music and "logic", which is math and puzzles.  They also told us that Jackson loves music class and plays the sticks alot.  Apparently he can even keep the beat and he knows when to rest.  Little musical genius we have.  Watch out John Bonham!

Happy Halloween!

This year is a good Halloween year.  Jackson's old enough to really be excited about it, but young enough that he wants us to go with him.  Jackson picked out the costumes for him and Davis this year, which only meant one thing...Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc.  They were so cute together.  It worked out that Davis is just a little too young for all this candy stuff, but is big enough that people didn't get that which means candy for momma!  This year we kept the tradition of going with Mayer and Beau and added in James Robert and Mattie Shore.  Leslie just had baby James yesterday, so it was daddy duty.  We had so much fun!

There is big news around here.  We sold our house finally!!!  We close on Nov. 20 and we're closing on our new house the same day!  We're headed to Smyrna and are so excited!  We are so ready!  When we first bought this house we didn't have kids and didn't even live in Atlanta, so sleeping on couches or on the floor for a couple of nights was no big deal.  Paint fumes?  Sure!  Now it's a totally different story.  The boys are getting shipped off to Mimi's house for 3 nights because we'll have about 30 hours to get out of this house and into the new house while it's being painted.  This is going to be fun!

9 months

Davis is 9 months old today.  Could we just slow time down just a little, please?  Here are his facts for this month:

1.  Davis weighs 22 lbs. 1 oz (90%) and is 29 1/16" (75-90%)
2.  He only wants table food now and loves everything he eats!
3.  He is down to 2 naps a day.
4.  Davis is officially crawling everywhere.  He usually ends up at my feet waiting to be picked up.  He has made the trip from the den to Jackson's room and is usually out of breath when he gets there.
5.  He is wearing 12-18 month clothes.

Fall Firsts

Well Jackson met one of my least favorite professions, the dentist.  It was his first trip and he handled it like a champ.  I may have given them a hint that he loved construction sites and they may have had a movie on just for him, but whatever it takes. 

We also played hookie from church last week since the boys had runny noses and went up to the pumpkin patch and to mine for gold.  Apparently Drew is nervous about buying a new house and was hoping to hit it big.  Sadly we came home with maybe 1 fleck of gold, some worthless gemstones and not even a pumpkin, but everyone had fun.

Oh and maybe the best news of all...we got a contract on our house!  Praise the Lord!

I'm gettin outta here!

Well, I knew after yesterday it wouldn't be long that Davis was full out crawling and boy was I right.  Davis took off took off today, so I think my job just got a little bit harder.  Luckily he's not fast yet, but I know that's next.

Another thing is I think I'm slowly becoming my mom.  Good or bad, I think it's coming.  I was eating dinner tonight with Davis and Jackson and as usual Davis is eating like a 15 year old and Jackson is eating like a bird.  So round and round we go about how many bites he has to take.  That child would not budge so finally I pulled out the "At some point hunger is on my side." and stared at him.  All of a sudden I had such a flashback.  I can't even remember how many times my mom and I had this exact same conversation.  Here I am on this side now and would like to formally apologize to my mom for not eating those gross english peas.  I now understand your pain.

First words and first covers

Finally!!  I have gotten a child that I carried for 9 months and gave birth to say "mama" before he said "dada"!  Davis started saying it a few days ago and it's so cute.  I realize that he probably doesn't really understand what he's doing or why I freak out when he does it, but I don't care.  Right now it's either "gaga" or "mama".  Not to mention he took his first little crawling moves today!  He's been rocking on all fours for a few days now so we knew he was close.  This morning I had a little one on one time while Jackson slept late and Davis and I worked on his skills.  The only thing that got him to move was going for the remote, such a guy.  I bet he'll be off for the races soon!

Jackson has also made a big move.  After a whole year of being in his big boy bed he his finally sleeping with covers on!  I've tried and tried to no avail, until I realized what I was missing...a little trickery.  I bought him a super soft blanket and when it was nap time I told him that Lambert was getting cold and he needed covers.  Well you see, Lambert sleeps right under Jackon's chin so the only way to cover up Lambert is to cover up Jackson.  He took it hook, line and sinker!  Now I'm hoping we'll move to actual bed covers soon, but for today I feel better since the colder air seems to be coming in fast!

Ha Ha Birdday

Or at least that's what Jackson says, who is now officially 3 years old.  We had an action packed day.  We started off with the birthday boy's favorite breakfast, cinnamon rolls and of course a present.

We had planned a great party at Memorial Park, but weather had other plans so we did a last minute move to a Chick Fil A that had an indoor playground.  Even though the weather was crazy we still had a lot of people come to the party.  In fact we ran into a friend of Jackson's from preschool who was there eating with her dad and little brother.  It was fun had by all!

Emily was spending her 30th birthday helping kids who were stuck in the playground area.

 After the party everyone took good naps and then it was up to the birthday boy where we went to dinner.  Being my child he wanted macaroni and cheese, which in his mind meant Jim & Nick's.

Jackson's 3 year old check up was this last Thursday so here are his stats:

1.  He weighs 32 lbs and is 37.75" tall.  Both in the 50%.  Dr. Roe said he thinks Jackson will still be tall even though his height slowed a little.  Apparently it's normal to have a year with a little growth and then shoot up a year or 2 later.
2.  Jackson seems to be surviving on 1 meal a day, which again Dr. Roe tells me is normal until 5 years old.  It's not that he only eats 1 meal, but he doesn't eat 3 meals that's for sure and it's not because I don't cook.
3.  Jackson's favorite foods right now are macaroni and cheese, Chick fil a nuggets and fries, apples, bananas, strawberries, pizza, hotdogs, egg salad (from Cafe At Pharr), goldfish, animal crackers, fried shrimp (from Maki Fresh), waffles and cinnamon rolls.  Even though he will eat some veggies (lady peas, butter beans and corn) I'm hoping he'll adopt more.

Class party

Today I think I officially became a soccer mom.  I brought mini cupcakes into Jackson's preschool class to celebrate his birthday.  It was so cute!  While I was still in the hallway the teacher, Ms. Tanya, told the kids we had  a surprise and they needed to sit at the table.  I walked in with Davis in a stroller and I was holding a tray of cupcakes.  Jackson's back was to me and some of the kids turned to see and started saying "that baby has a paci", then Jackson turned around and he looked so surprised and said "Mama!".  So cute!  Ms. Tanya then said "Someone has a birthday.  Who is it?"  She was pointing at Jackson and said "Who is this?"  Someone said "Jackson!".  She told them we were going to sing the special happy birthday song.  Now, Jackson has been randomly singing happy birthday at home so I thought he would just join in.  As the class started singing Jackson got the biggest grin and just looked at everyone while they were singing just taking it all in.  It was hilarious!  The cupcakes were a hit and I took some really cute pictures, but apparently my camera wasn't working right so I lost them all.  Oh well, still sweet memories.

8 months

Davis is 8 months old today and I'm so happy he will still let me rock him to sleep every once in a while.  He was falling asleep while he was drinking his last bottle tonight and would not wake up to burp.  A good mother would not put a baby down like that, so I just had to rock him for a little bit to make sure the milk got down before he went to bed.  So sweet. 

Off the mushy stuff and onto the facts for this month:

1.  Davis is wearing a size 12 month.
2.  He weighs just a hair under 22 lbs and is about 29" (from my best measurements).
3.  He is now down to 2 naps a day.  One from about 10-12 and another from about 2:30-4:30.
4.  Davis is eating 3 meals a day and a last bottle at bedtime.  He is starting to dabble with table food and just loves macaroni and cheese.  He seems to suck all the cheese off and spit the noodle out.  Whatever works.
5.  As of a couple of days ago he is more mobile.  Not crawling, but he'll roll or inch worm to whatever he wants.
6.  Sadly, I think Davis must have my sweet blood because mosquitoes just love him.  Poor guy seems to always have a mosquito bite on his head.
7.  Davis is now without a crib bumper because he somehow figured out how to untie the double knot on the rails and pull part of it in the crib with him.  Not cool.

First Day Jitters

Last Thursday was Jackson's first day of his new preschool class.  He is in the Older 2s Tuesday/Thursday class with Ms. Tanya and Ms. Kijuana.  The night before school started I was making a sign for him to hold for pictures the next day and one of the questions was "what do you want to be when you grow up?".  Obviously he doesn't understand what that means, but boy did he have an answer for me.  I could not sway him as hard as I tried. 

I think he had a good day.  There were no tears, from me or him.  Jackson's always been good about going into new places and not looking back.  Hopefully he'll always be that way.

Beach trip

We went to Suemama and Joepapa's beach house last week for a long weekend and it went by way too fast, as usual.  Davis loved it!  As soon as he saw the water he let out this sigh that was exactly what I was feeling.  Like we could finally relax.  We blew up a baby pool for the boys to play in because Jackson is still a little afraid of the ocean and it had a lot of seaweed in it.  Surprisingly neither boy really spent a lot of time in it.  Davis loved sitting in the sand and digging around and Jackson loved feeding the seagulls and then chasing them away.  I hope they have sweet memories of the beach like I do.